Harvesting sugar-cane.



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H. G. GINAG'A. a HARVBSTING SUGAR GANE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1905.

v 1 Kr/N 77Jzulz PATENTED MAR. 31, 1908.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY GABRIEL GINACA, OF HONOLULU, TERRITORY OF HAWAII, ASSIGNOR, BYDIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF TWO-FIFTHS TO ABRAHAM GARTENBERG, OFHONOLULU,

TERRITORY OF HAWAII.

HARVESTING SUGAR-CANE.

Patented March 31, 1908.

Serial No. 278,771.

T o all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY GABRIEL Gr- NAcA, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Honolulu, county of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Harvesting Sugar-Cane, of

. which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved method of harvesting sugar cane. f

The object of this invention is in the'nature of improvements on theapparatus for harvesting sugar cane for which Letters Patent No. 798,033, were granted to me on August 22, 1905. Byl my present invention,the hauling cables with their necessary drums, field anchors, etc. areeliminated, the portable power plant does not have to be moved after thecutting of each row and may be employed for operating a plurality ofcutting and conveying machines, and other advantages are obtained aswill hereinafter appear.

With these objects in view my invention consists in the arrangement andcombination of parts and apparatus, as hereinafter fully described andclaimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing representing inplan a portion of a cane field and the apparatus I employ. As themachine hereinafter mentioned for conveying sugarl cane with cuttingdevices attached is the subject of a separate application for patent adetailed description of the same is now omitted.

The portable power plant A consists preferably of a car adapted to runover the plantation tracks and provided with an engine E and an electricgenerator G driven thereby. The motor B/ of the propelling mechanism ofeach of the conveying machines B is connected with the generator G ofthe power lant A by means of suitable electrically insu ated flexiblecables D. A drum F, attached to the rear of the machine B, pays out ortakes up the slack of the cable D, as the case may be depending uponwhether the movement of the machine B is forward or backward. Each ofthe` conveying machines B is provided with cutting devices C attached tothe machine. These attached cutting devices C may be operated eitherdirectly or indirectly by the motor B of the conveying machine B. Eachmachine B, with `the attached cutting devices C, is under the control ofan operator, for by means of the electrical controller K, he can startor stop or vary'the speed of the machine at will, and by means of thelever b he can guide or steer the machine.

The machine B is started from an irrigation ditch H, the devices Ccutting the cane grown in onehrow, and most of the cane thus cut isdeposited u on the apron of the ma'- chine B upon whic it is conveyed, asling M being previously placed upon said apron. The cut cane whichfalls in front of the machine is picked up as the machine advances. Uponarrival a-t the irrigation ditch J the machine is stopped, and the slingM is then gathered around the cane upon the apron of the machine B andattached to a temporary stake or anchor L in the field. The machine B isthen started backwards towards the ditch H, thereby removing theconveyed cut cane in the sling M from the machine B. The cane thusdumped near the ditch J is to ped, stripped and loaded onto cars to beta en to the mill, this being accomplished either by hand or by machinessuitable there- Y for. Upon the return of the machine B to the ditch Hit is then started on the next adjoining row of cane, and theseoperations are repeated. In the mean time other machines B, with cuttingattachments C, are Operating in a similar manner in other portions ofthe field adjacent to the power plant A. `The portable power plant A ismoved from time to time when necessary to follow u with'the machines Bas the field becomes cl)eared.

If electric power is obtainable throughout the field to be harvested,from the mill or elsewhere, the power plant A is omitted and the cablesD are attached to the feeders from such supply, or the car of the powerplant A may, in lieu of the engine E and generator G, be provided withtransformers or a rotary converter as may be necessary to suit theconditions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. An apparatus forharvesting sugar cane, comprising a cane cutting and conveying machineprovided with a motor driven mechanism for propelling it over thesurface of the field, a railway traversing the eld, a power plantcarried by said railway, a flexible insucomprising a cane cutting andconveying machine provided with a motor driven mechanism for propellingit over the surface of the field, a railway traversing the field, apower plant carried by said railway, a flexible insulated cable fortransmitting the power from the plant to the motor of the propelling`mechanisms, a winding drum on the machine to take up or pay out slack inthe cable, and means for unloading the cane.

3. An apparatus for harvesting sugar-cane, comprising a railway track, acar movable thereon, an engine and electric generator mounted on thecar, a cane cutting and conveying machine provided with a motor- 15mitting power directly from the generator on 20 the car to the motor onthe machine.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY GABRIEL GINACA.

Witnesses A. F. EwART, ROBT. J. PRATT.

